4 Ways RFID Helps Supermarkets Throw Away Less And Sell More
Food waste is a worsening problem in the F&B retail industry, specifically in grocery stores or supermarkets. According to the National Environmental Agency (NEA) the amount of food waste produced in Singapore has risen by around 40% over the past decade. With Singapore’s increasing population and growing economic activity, this number is expected to rise in the future.
As such, pressure has been placed on many major supermarkets in the country to help reduce food waste and facilitate environmental sustainability. Fortunately, these supermarkets are in a powerful position to help food waste by investing in waste-reducing and efficiency-enhancing technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID).
Read on to find out how RFID can help supermarkets minimise waste and maximise profit.
1. Consistency between inventory and demand
Tagging each individual food product with an RFID label allows supermarket personnel to monitor their sales down to the last bottle or box. With visible and more accurate data, they can also align supply with demand, thereby speeding up markdowns and enhancing overall inventory management. This data provides grocers with a better understanding of demand, which is necessary for the reduction of overstocking that contributes to waste.
2. Better expiry management
As with most in-store processes, checking the expiration dates of all products is usually carried out by hand, which is a time-consuming and labour-intensive task. With the use of RFID tags for inventory tracking, supermarket personnel can be alerted to expiring products with just a simple glance at a screen, and this enables them to promote soon-to-expire goods more proactively.
3. Closer monitoring of temperature-sensitive products
Most supermarkets make use of temperature sensors and other similar solutions to avoid food spoilage. Combining the capabilities of these sensors with the greater shareability and visibility of RFID-generated data can expand the ability of supermarket staff to stay on top of their products’ temperature requirements and help them ensure that all their food items are stored optimally.
4. More accurate product removal during recalls
A couple of things are more wasteful than clearing an entire shelf’s worth of goods into a dumpster during a product recall, as no one really knows which exact items are affected. During such recalls, RFID tagging allows unprecedented traceability, thereby enabling suppliers and supermarket personnel to quickly identify tainted products.
In some instances, the use of RFID has resulted in the location of affected food products in as fast as ten seconds instead of over several days with manual checking. Especially when combined with other track-and-trace technologies like blockchain, the use of RFID for inventory management can help prevent great volumes of food from being thrown away and keep consumers safe at all times.
Conclusion
Food waste is a serious problem that affects numerous industries, specifically grocery stores and supermarkets. If not addressed right away, food waste can lead to major financial losses and environmental damage. For this reason, it has become more important now than ever for supermarkets to invest in technologies that help stanch food waste, and among the best of these is RFID. There are many ways food businesses can utilise RFID tool tracking. With its numerous capabilities, RFID can be a transformative solution to food waste.
